French n-regulator nod for Jaitapur's EPR nuclear reactors

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) today said a safety review by the French nuclear regulator has made no comments on having additional systems for the EPR reactors proposed for the Jaitapur nuclear project, setting he stage for restarting negotiations on the delayed venture in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. "A quick scan of the ASN report shows that there are no clear comments on any system that has to be added to the EPRs," NPCIL Director (Technical) S A Bhardwaj told reporters here. He said a detailed review of the report of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) would take a week and the NPCIL would like to restart negotiations by the end of this month. The talks on signing a commercial agreement between NPCIL and French company Areva had been stalled after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. The Indian nuclear operator was awaiting a report on the safety aspects of the Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR) which was reviewed by ASN along with the 58 nuclear power units under operation in France. Post-Fukushima, India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had carried out a similar safety review of all 20 operational nuclear power plants in India and suggested some additional safety measures. On the Kudankulam nuclear power project in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu being built with Russian technology and assistance, Bhardwaj said the first unit of the plant could be started three months after the ongoing agitation is called off. Asked about the funding for the upcoming nuclear power projects, Bhardwaj said the NPCIL planed to raise overseas loans to meet the expenditure of setting up power plants. "Getting overseas loans is part of the whole negotiation process with equipment suppliers as it may be less expensive than borrowing locally," he said. He said the NPCIL plans to approach French banks for raising funds for the Jaitapur plant and banks in Russia for funding the units 3-4 in Kudankulam. NPCIL plans to establish up to six 1650 MWe units at Jaitapur, six 1,000 MWe units each at Kudankulam, Kovvada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and Chhayamithi Virdi in the western state of Gujarat. While the nuclear plants at Kudankulam and Jaitapur are being built in cooperation with Russia and France, the sites in Kovvada and Chhayamithi Virdi have been allocated to US companies. Besides this, the NPCIL plans to set up indigenously designed 700 MWe PHWRs at Gorakhpur (four units) in the northern state of Haryana, Chutka (two units) and Bhimpur (four units) in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, and Mahi-Banswara (four units) in Rajasthan. The NPCIL has also started construction on two units of 700 MWe PHWRs each at Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhata in northwestern Rajasthan. Two units are also being planned at Kaiga in southern Karnataka. PTI